Resources for Growers

Followup to the seed growing article in the March 2009 issue of Growing for Market: a list of books and publications to help you learn more about growing seed.

•Suzanne Ashworth: Seed To Seed. Good for beginners and small scale seed growers. Information from growers in 7 bio-regions. Good for information on what crosses with what. Information on each vegetable family for each bio-region.

•Bryan Connolly, NOFA: The Wisdom of Plant Heritage: Organic Seed production and Saving. A smaller booklet, with a good introduction to genetics, and a glossary of technical terms for beginners.

Carol Deppe: Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties. Basics on seed saving plus technical details about selection and breeding new varieties. Available from the Growing for Market store. Click here for more information.

•Nancy Bubel: Seed Starter's Handbook

Organic Seed Alliance: The organization that has started the Family Farmers Seed Cooperative, also the sponsor of the Organic Seed Conference, Growers' Trade Association, news, research, advocacy and more.

Seed Savers Exchange: is a non-profit organization that saves and shares heirloom seeds. By becoming a member of the Seed Savers Exchange you may choose from thousands of heirloom vegetables and fruits or flowers and herbs. They have twice as many vegetable varieties as are available from all of the mail-order seed catalogs in both the U.S. and Canada.

Save Our Seed: a USDA SARE funded project designed to train southeast farmers and extension agents in the production of organic and heirloom seed. The Save Our seed project has published online guides written by Jeff McCormack, for producing organic seed in the Southeast, for cucurbits, peppers, brassicas, tomatoes, beans; an Isolation Distance Guide, and a Seed Processing and Storage Guide. Call Cricket Rakita (540) 894-8865. They helped create One Seed at a Time: a southeast Organic Heirloom Seed Bank and Curation Facility, working to keep public varieties from being patented by documenting each one and preserving a sample.

Saving Our Seeds: Information, resources, and publications for gardeners, farmers, seed savers, and seed growers. Jeff McCormack is selling manuals in English and Spanish, and plans to make them down-loadable in the future. His website includes links for online manuals for organic bean, spinach and radish seed production in the Pacific Northwest.

Fedco Seeds: Why Save Seed? By CR Lawn.

Seed Saving for Beginners - a useful chart listing isolation distance, self- or cross-pollination, seed longevity.

Seed Saving Supplies and Equipment:
•Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
•Abundant Life Seed Foundation

Washington State University has information on farm-made seed cleaning equipment.
http://sustainableseedsystems.wsu.edu/nicheMarket/smallScaleThreshing.html

The National Arbor Day Foundation inspires people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees. Look up your zone on the Plant Hardiness Zone Map.

The Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers -- The national organization of flower growers. Find information about membership, the annual conference and regional meetings. You can also read reports and see photos of flower farm tours.

ATTRA, The National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service is a project of the non-profit National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT), funded by the USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Service. With more than 230 free publications, an interactive Web site, a toll-free help line, and many other resources, ATTRA provides free technical information to American farmers, ranchers, educators, Extension personnel, and others involved in commercial agriculture in the United States, its Territories and Possessions. Topics include production, business and management, processing, and marketing, as well as organic compliance and risk management. Free bi-monthly (print/electronic) and weekly (electronic) newsletters. Phone 800-346-9140.

Final rule for the USDA's National Organic Standards.

Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables. FDA/USDA Publication containing Good Agricultural Practices for produce farms.

Healthy Farmers, Healthy Profits project. Growers can download University of Wisconsin tipsheets on mesh bags, standard containers, narrow pallet system, packing shed layout, rolling dibble markers and the specialized sit-down cart.

HighTunnels.org is a web site for sharing information about growing in high tunnels (hoophouses).

Missouri Alternatives Center provides information and resources on alternatives in agriculture. The website is a one-stop shop for links of valuable knowledge on alternative agriculture.

www.OnlyatFarmersMarkets.com is a popular clearinghouse promoting farmers' markets with feature stories, video, forums, exclusive content and an active social network. It attracts highly educated, health conscious and motivated consumers who understand the value of fresh, local foods and support local farmers. It includes a Virtual Farmers Market, where growers and crafters can list their products.

Organic Farming Research Foundation offers grants and technical information about organic farming.

Organic Materials Review Institute reviews products to determine whether they are suitable for use by organic growers.

Tips on selling at farmers markets by Nina Planck, author of Real Food

USDA cut flower prices (Boston only). This site is slow to load, so be patient.

USDA fruit and vegetable prices (15 cities).

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